I don't own Digimon Frontier.

Takouji hints. Can't take it? Too bad :P

A Question Meant for the Rain

Takuya hated hospitals.

He hated them. Had it been up to him, he never would've set foot in such a place ever in his life. But this wasn't up to him, he reckoned, watching the woman in front of him. She was just lying there, not moving, hardly breathing. Hardly being alive.

It was a Friday night. Takuya's birthday, to be precise, so the family went out for dinner to Takuya's favorite restaurant. His father was looking at him with a smile, so he missed the car coming at them suddenly. The next thing the boy knew was that Shinya and him were labeled as 'in shock', his dad was panicking despite his own serious injuries and his mother… wasn't moving. They took her to the hospital first. She stayed there last.

He remembered her smile. It was a second before it all happened. And he couldn't shake the feeling it was all his fault.

"Oh, Takuya-kun! Are you still here?"

The nurse asked, entering the room with a large tray of medication. The boy nodded silently, not taking his eyes off of his mother.

"You should go home and rest, Takuya-kun. Your mother would be sad if you got sick over her."

He nodded again and stood up.

"Take care of her?"

The nurse smiled warmly at the boy as he took his mother's hand.

"I'm going home now, Kaa-san. I'll be back later."

Quite reluctantly, he let go and left.

The hall looked cold and threatening. People walked past him, not giving him a first glance. They either had their own troubles, or they just didn't care. The bright white of the walls and the smell of over cleaning added a physical side to his mental discomfort.  His shoes screeched in contact with the floor as he passed a woman crying on a young man's shoulder, the doctor next to them shaking his head and trying to offer words of comfort.

He hated hospitals.

It was raining outside, but Takuya couldn't care less. The house was too quiet and lonely without his mother there. He would've even lived through her yelling at him. Anything. But she wasn't even conscious, how could she walk around the house?

After a while walking, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked up at the clouded sky. The rain kept pouring, washing away the tears, and at times, mixing with them, making up for the ones he simply wasn't ready to cry.

"Why?"

He whispered, closing his eyes tightly. All that did was bring up his mother's image.

"Okaa-san…"

His eyes suddenly flew open when he noticed the rain had stopped. Looking up, he discovered he was being sheltered by an umbrella. Having been through the scenario before, he smiled weakly and turned around.

"Shinya, you shouldn't… have…"

And indeed, Shinya didn't. For the face that stared back at Takuya wasn't that of his little brother, but of that of the boy he learned to call 'best friend'. Deep blue eyes, long hair collected in a ponytail, and about a head taller, the teen looked at him, a hint of worry evident through his seemingly careless mask.

"Well, look at what I found."

"Kouji…"

The rain didn't stop. If anything, it got stronger. The two boys were forced to hide under a large tree in the park. Takuya was sitting against the tree, his knees to his chest, his arms around them. Kouji was simply leaning against said tree, arms crossed, the umbrella discarded on the lawn. The taller boy watched the rain quietly, listening to the boy next to him try to choke his sobs. He knew better than to ask before Takuya was ready, otherwise he'd just get a painfully fake 'I'm fine' from him. It also wasn't his style to rush things. It was the goggle boy's.

"Is it…"

Takuya raised his head from his knees, letting his legs stretch before him.

"Is it still raining?"

Kouji didn't look down. He didn't want to see his friend in tears.

"Ah."

He heard him stifle yet another sob, yet still Kouji's gaze was fixed on the rain.

"Guess I can't go back home now, I don't wanna get everything wet."

He almost added 'Mom'll be mad', when he remembered where she was at the moment. And home wasn't it.

As Takuya fell silent, and Kouji wasn't one to start a conversation, the silence was broken only by the rain hitting the leaves that sheltered them.

"I'm sorry."

Takuya suddenly blurted out, but it wasn't what he said but how he said it that surprised Kouji. He was used to Takuya's lively voice, determined no matter what. His friend sounded weak and fragile, and Kouji felt just a tad bad for him. It wouldn't have been fair to either of them, had he pitied Takuya on the basis of two words.

"What are you apologizing for?"

"Keeping you in the rain with me."

The bluette showed the first signs of a smile on his face.

"It's ok. Needed some time to cool off, anyway."

"Had a fight with your parents?"

"Nope."

"Then what?"

Takuya asked, looking at Kouji, for a moment almost forgetting about himself.

"My mom tries too hard. Even when I tell her it's ok and that I got it covered, she still tries to help. I know she means well, but I'm 15 now. I can take care of myself."

15. 7 years since Kouji got a new mother. 4 since he started acknowledging her as such. The goggle boy would've been happy for his friend, had he not been reminded of his own mother.

"I just had to get out of there before I'd have said something I know I'd have regretted by now… So how about you?"

He asked, sensing Takuya was drifting away from him.

"What's eating you today, Taki-chan?"

Kouji asked, ruffling the other boy's damp hair, all done in a teasing manner. I had no affect on the depressed youth.

"I couldn't stand being home anymore. The air's so think I can just die."

""Why?"

He never told any of his friends about his mother's condition, though it was well over a week ago.

"Because…"

The rest of the sentence was cut as the boy found himself unable to pronounce it. Instead, he looked up at Kouji, his expression as serious and as grim as they come.

"Ne, Kouji… What does it feel like?"

"What?"

Takuya pulled his knees to his chest again and rested his chin, looking at the droplets fall to the ground.

"…To lose a mother."

Kouji stared down at the boy next to him, utterly shocked. He felt like he was frozen, like he was turned to stone right there and then, his insides going numb. But at the same time he felt like exploding.

"Wha, why, where the hell did that come from?!"

Takuya didn't respond, which only added fuel to Kouji's hurt, anger and confusion. He grabbed the boy sitting down by the shirt and pulled him up, pinning him to the tree.

"What, you're making fun of me?! Answer me!"

He got an answer, all right. It was in the form of tears. Not knowing what to do, Kouji let go of Takuya and looked away, his hands covering his face. Takuya fell down to his knees, not caring enough to get back up. For the longest time neither of them spoke a word. The goggle boy looked up to see Kouji lean against the tree and fall to the ground slowly, his face still covered.

"I'm… I'm sorry… I, I'll go now…"

He truly was about to go into the rain when he felt Kouji's hand on his, and he might as well have been tied to the tree. Takuya wasn't going anywhere for the life of him.

"I…"

Kouji's voice was hardly heard as the rain covered him, and his other hand was still covering the lower part of his face.

"I don't think you could say I… lost… my mother…"

Takuya was sure of it; he had never seen the other boy so lost, even though he knew Kouji had the answer. It was getting it out that was the hard part. And he was the one to put his friend through it.

"I mean, I don't remember ever being with my real mother before meeting Kouichi. It was like, I never even had a mother to begin with, so how can you lose something you never had?"

He paused, trying to steady his voice.

"But growing up… you're not deaf. You're not blind. You start noticing things…"

Kouji trailed off, closing his eyes, devoting himself to memories. He remembered seeing mothers drop their children at school. He remembered mothers coming to their children's shows and plays. He even remembered mothers lecturing their naughty children, and how he longed to be preached like that.

"…you notice you're different. You notice you're missing something. And you notice the reason why your chest hurts so badly."

He let go of Takuya's hand, both hands moving to grip his shirt above his heart. All Takuya could do was listen quietly to something he doubted, no, he knew Kouji never told anyone. Not even his twin brother.

"It hurts, it hurts like hell, and you suddenly realize that it's because you're not only missing something, but because you lost something. Something most precious. And you see other people have it, and you feel like crying…"

Which was exactly what Kouji did.

"…Because you know that what you lost…"

He shifted, gently placing his hand above Takuya's heart. Takuya covered Kouji's hand with his own, feeling that that was the only thing he could do at the moment.

"…is an irreplaceable piece of yourself."

Takuya began crying again, only to have Kouji wipe away his tears. Their eyes met, and the goggle boy noticed for the first time that his friend has been wearing a sad, yet incredibly comforting smile.

"But something that horrible can't possibly happen to someone like you. Don't worry about it. It'll be all right."

"Kouji…"

"Look."

Following Kouji's gaze, the tanned boy was greeted by sunlight and birds chirping.

"The rain stopped."

Getting up, Kouji offered a hand to his friend.

"Mind if I walk you home?"

For the first time in a week, Takuya managed a smile.

"Not at all."

The two silently reached Takuya's house to find his father and Shinya getting ready to leave.

"Oy! What's wrong?!"

Takuya asked, getting understandably worried. Shinya's grin, however, made it all better.

"It's mom! She woke up!"

"Really?!"

Losing himself for a moment, Takuya ran ahead, but managed to turn back to Kouji.

"Thank you, Kouji!"

Smiling back, Kouji opened his umbrella even despite the bright sun, and left, waving goodbye.

'I guess… for some people… it'll always be raining.'

"Takuya!"

"Coming!"

And Takuya got into the car, knowing he'll never forget the image of his friend under the umbrella on a rainy time, nor the talk they had. He just wished the other boy some rainbows.

-End-